Talking Point


‘Parity of Esteem’ – the opportunity it represents for our industry!


At the start of another new year, Malcolm Duncan, Managing Director of Super Rod, discusses the importance of modern apprenticeships within the electrical trade and electrical supply chain.


I


am writing this article the morning aſter the Chancellor presented his Autumn statement. Before you turn the page, I


am not going all political on you, it just provided a catalyst to focus on my musings for 2016.


One of the announcements was a planned


Apprentice Levy on businesses with a payroll of more than £3m. At the time of writing, the announcement was significantly short of detail, but that isn’t really the point. What was key about this statement was the renewed belief in the apprenticeship system. I suppose having progressed through the


apprentice ranks, I have to admit to some bias on this subject, but sometimes I think that I am in the minority. Let’s look at the choices we face, or more poignantly, what choices our children face. The current estimate is that the cost of putting a child through university is over £60,000 – which is a huge burden, not just for the parent but also the child. Nevertheless, it is still seen as the customary route for young people leaving school at the age of 18. Apprenticeships, on the other hand, are traditionally viewed as purely a vocational option for people who want to work in the front line of a trade in a role such as electrician, plumber or mechanic. Whilst we as an industry may see the benefits of this route, the reality is that it is often seen as a second option for those who cannot


afford or fail to make the grades for a university place.


This undervaluing of both the trades and


apprentice system seems to be unique to the UK because when you look at countries such as Germany, people working in the ‘trades’ are recognised as engineers and are held in the same level of esteem as university graduates.


A golden opportunity So what does this mean for UK electrical wholesalers? Our industry is changing and as a result there are far more options available for people wanting to train in this unique industry. We have some great training schemes available, with the EDA (Electrical Distributors Association) leading the way, and many companies are actively running their own apprentice schemes. Only recently, I had the pleasure of taking part in the training of a group of 40 new apprentices and one of my first observations was that we are really starting to attract some talent into our industry. Some may say that it’s not before time, but that aside, this industry is now becoming more attractive to younger people as a career choice rather than just a stop gap before they find a better job. This is therefore an opportunity for us all because we are part of an industry that is generating revenues of over £3billion. It is also an industry which provides an excellent career path


This undervaluing of both the trades and apprentice system seems to be unique


to the UK because when you look at countries such as Germany, people working in the ‘trades’ are recognised as engineers and


are held in the same level of esteem as university graduates.


30 | electrical wholesaler January 2016


for those we can attract into it – the challenge for us is how to attract the best talent into our industry at an early stage.


Let’s learn a valuable lesson This may sound like a big ask but it isn’t that difficult – we can in fact learn some valuable lessons from the trades that we serve. At Super Rod, along with our US partners


Klein Tools, we are working with JTL – one of the largest training organisations in the UK – and have just committed over £1million of tools to a five-year programme for training electricians. We were inspired to work with JTL, not just because of their excellent training record, but also because of their tireless efforts to recruit people into our industry.


JTL is an organisation that we can learn


from because we should all be taking part in the recruitment process either through the EDA or as individual companies attending careers fairs. Contrary to popular belief, it is in fact the job of every single person in this industry to present the fabulous opportunities which this industry has to offer and make it attractive to young people. So while ‘Parity of Esteem’ may be something that you see in the media more and more, it is also an opportunity for us and rather than trying to out-do each other we should in fact work together to recruit the best people into our industry. A modern apprenticeship within our


industry is not a second rate option and you only need to look around your colleagues, customers and competitors to see this. Many of us have built some great careers – now it’s time to open the doors and encourage others to join us so that they can continue to take our industry forward.


www.super-rod.co.uk www.ewnews.co.uk


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